Unconventional Ch. 09

With final exams over, Roxanne felt part of the weight off her shoulders. She wasn't happy, even after and almost a week of radio silence, but she was happier knowing that there was one less thing for her to worry about. She was also in the middle of packing her room and leaving her apartment for good. With graduation only two days away, she couldn't wait to get away from her roommates from hell and possibly into a new place. She just wasn't sure where that place would be just yet.

The chill from the weather forced her to put on her coat before grabbing a box and taking it outside to her car. Its heaviness almost knocked her off her feet when the wind blew until someone caught her.

"Careful," Jarrett immediately said.

Roxanne was completely stunned; her heart almost dropped out of her ass at the sight of him. He came out of nowhere and caught her almost instantaneously. He took the box out of her hands.

"Thanks," she quickly said.

She couldn't think straight; she'd rehearsed several things in her mind and now that he was right in front of her, she was speechless.

Jarrett looked amazing. His handsome hair undercut and a five o'clock shadow accentuated his strong jawline. He slightly nodded at her remark, not fully acknowledging her. He was on his way to his apartment when he saw her struggling with her box. Instinctively, he wanted to help her and ran over, not thinking of the aftermath once they locked eyes on each other.

"I didn't think you'd still be here," he said.

"Just getting ready for Moving Day," she replied, "What are you still doing here?"

"I'm leased until January," he said.

Roxanne nodded. He walked the box to the trunk of her car without making small talk. Roxanne groped for something to say. Something to get his attention.

"You know, I didn't see you at the last meeting the other day. The office is throwing a party for the graduates," she informed.

"That's nice," he simply said.

"Are you coming? You're graduating too."

"No."

"Why not?"

Jarrett sharply exhaled. No answer.

"Well, see you around," he said, turning away from her. Roxanne threw her hands up and slapped them on her side.

"Jarrett, I'm really trying here. Throw me a bone," she pleaded.

"Why?" he said curtly, "Why should I make having a conversation easy for you?"

"It's not easy. I'm trying to apologize here. I know you're still mad," she blurted out, "I can't change the past but I want to talk about this. Please."

He turned to face her. Roxanne felt herself getting frustrated. Her hands shook as he approached her.

"There's nothing to talk about, Roxy. You made your choice. You want to move to Charleston. So, have a nice life," he said.

"I am so sorry. This is exactly what I didn't want to happen. We were good friends, then this arrangement happened and looked what happened."

"What did you expect? I told you, I can't go back to just being your friend."

"So, you just shut me out and cut me off completely? I'm not like you, Jarrett. I don't know how to compartmentalize and process my feelings. I don't know how to let people in. I've never had to do this before."

"And now you don't have to."

It wasn't the conversation she pictured in her mind. Roxanne didn't think that he would ever be so curt with her. She was amazed; she knew he was hurt but she didn't think she could hurt him this bad. She couldn't believe how cold he was toward her. Forget the chill in the air; his iciness was enough to make her tremble.

***********************************

Two weeks later. Graduation. A day that is supposed to bring cheer and optimism to every young adult's life but Roxanne did not feel any excitement. She stood in what of was left of her room in front of her mirror and stared at her reflection. Any young woman would be proud of herself for making such a transition from one state to another; graduating from college with honors and ready to take the next big step. But Roxanne didn't feel that way. She didn't know what she was feeling. Regardless of her lack of feelings, she pulled her gown over her blue chiffon, tassel dress.

At the ceremony, she looked around and saw her family in the balcony smiling at her and cheering her on. Roxanne tried to listen to the commencement speech; the wise words of some accomplished woman in her thirties. She reminded Roxanne of herself in more ways than one.

Roxanne smiled as she walked across the stage. She accepted her diploma and shook the hand of her dean and university president. After the ceremony, she met up with her family in the halls of the huge auditorium. Charlotte and their mom were really proud. They couldn't stop hugging and kissing the youngest member of the family.

"So, what's next Roxy?" Charlotte asked eagerly.

"Hell if I know," Roxanne said.

"Roxy, watch your mouth," Angela said, her mom hated when her girls cursed.

"Sorry," Roxy said.

"Come on, honey. We have reservations at six," their mom said.

"Let me get changed and I'll meet y'all there," Roxy said.

"Alright." Charlotte said, squeezing her tight.

Voices carried throughout the halls of the massive auditorium as Roxanne departed from her family and made her way through the crowd to the parking lot exit. In a moment's time, she saw him.

Her heart pounded so hard and fast it was likely to burst out of her chest at the sight of him. A rush of emotions came to her; confusion, happiness, fear. She didn't know what came over her. All at once, she felt a jolt in her stomach as Jarrett approached her. She felt weak in the knees. Why is he here and why did he have to look so drop-dead gorgeous?

"Congratulations, Roxanne. Your family must be proud."

She laughed a little. "You never call me Roxanne," she said, "What are you doing here?" she asked, almost in whisper.

He brushed away the strands of hair covering her face with the tips of his fingers. Nope. She wasn't dreaming. He was actually there. She felt her emotions trigger the sensors in her eyes and was ready to cry again. He wiped her tears before they could fall down her face.

"I'm still angry with you, O'Brien, but I couldn't miss your graduation."

"Please. Please don't be mad at me anymore, Jarrett," she begged, "I didn't take the job in Charleston," she said, "I couldn't choose the job over you."

It spilled out like word vomit and she couldn't stop telling him how she felt. She didn't want to run the risk of him interrupting her mid-sentence or shutting her down. She had to get it all out at once.

"And I wanted to tell you, but when I got back here, you weren't talking to me. I love you so much, Jarrett. And I'm so, so sorry."

Even Jarrett was surprised. He wanted to give her a piece of his mind but he wasn't going to do it at her graduation. He wanted to punish her a little. Roxanne didn't care. She seemed like she really missed him and she let it all out right now. She was unconventional that way; holding in her emotions was not her strong suit. It reminded him of the very first conversation they had in his office where she told him to go fuck himself and it made him smile.

"Please say something," she finally said.

"Come with me," he said as he took her hand. Roxanne was all too eager to follow.

He searched for a door leading to a classroom. Bingo. They went inside and Jarrett immediately locked the door behind them. He pinned her to the door and pounced on her, pressing her against the door. This wasn't going to be sweet lovemaking. He wanted to fuck her. Hard. And finally release the tension between them. Kissing her roughly, he snatched her graduation gown off her shoulders. It dropped on the floor. He hiked up her dress to her waist. He was all over her; planting kisses on her lips, down her neck and chest. Roxanne moaned in an instant. Quiet at first until he slipped two of his digits into her pussy. Then her moans grew louder.

"Quiet babe, the whole building's gonna hear you," he said in her ear.

"It's your fault," she moaned, "You feel so good, baby."

"You don't come unless I say so," he commanded, "Understood?"

Roxanne eagerly nodded. He snatched down her panties and put them in his pocket. She helped him unbuckle his belt and reached into his pants. It didn't take long for him to get hard. Jarrett lifted her leg and positioned himself at her entrance. He wanted to punish her; to show her what she'd been missing the last couple of weeks but there was enough time for that later. Right now, he just want to fuck her into oblivion. Roxanne braced one hand against the door as plunged inside her. Her knees buckled against the tension. She was just as tight as the last time they were together. It felt so good feeling her pussy clamp around his thick, hard dick. She was so wet. She wrapped her other arm around his neck.

"Oh please. Please Jay, can I come?"

"That big dick's making your pussy wet, baby?" he hissed.

"Fuck yes. Please, baby, can I come? I'm about to-"

He grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back as he pumped harder and faster. Forcing her to rise to her peak. Kissing her neck he said, "Come for me, baby."

That's all Roxanne needed to hear. She came all over his dick. He didn't stop fucking her. If anything, he was moving harder and faster before as her pussy tightened; making it impossible to pull out at this point.

"Fuck Roxy," he breathed.

The spasms from her pussy was the most amazing feeling he felt in a while. Her legs shook each time he forced his dick inside her. She was limp in his arms as waves of pleasure besieged her. He looked down at her and watched her eyes roll back.

"That's it baby, come all over this dick. Show me how much you missed me," he growled.

Roxanne didn't know what to think and didn't care. He could fuck her like this as much as he wanted as long as he didn't stop. He smacked her on her apple ass and pressed her against the door again. She was immovable. He knew he was being rough but didn't hear any complaint from her yet. Only her voice calling his name and God. He knew she couldn't stand on her own and tried to support her but was more concerned about satisfying his needs. He plunged into her again and again until his balls tightened. He thrust one final time; shooting his seed deep inside the walls of her pulsating pussy. She felt his hot cum shoot into her pussy. Some of it dripped down her thighs. Jarrett stood still for a moment, still breathing hard and looking into the eyes of the young woman that caused his hardship. He let her go when she was ready to stand on her own. A moment of silence passed between them for what seemed like hours before she spoke.

"That day you left when we were on break, I should've gone after you," she said.

Jarrett sighed, "I didn't expect you to. A part of me wanted to stay."

"You could have stayed."

"You could have stopped me," he countered, "Look, there's no point in looking back at the past. It's in the past."

"So, where are we now?" she asked.

"Fuck if I know," he said plainly.

"Well, I hope this wasn't a farewell fuck," she said.

"There you go, again. You always have something sarcastic to say," he said as he pulled up his pants.

"It's my defense mechanism," she admitted.

"I thought we were past your defenses, or was that little speech out there complete bullshit?"

"I meant everything that I said, Jarrett. But if you've got something you want to get off your chest, I'm all ears."

"Same old Roxanne," he muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked. This was a side of him she'd never seen. Getting him to talk to her was not going to be easy. No, she was going to have to be honest.

"I don't want to fight anymore. I don't want you to walk out that door and pretend like I don't exist."

"After all the time we spent together, don't know you by now that I'm not going anywhere?" he finally said, "It killed me, not being able to talk you. And yeah, I'm still angry. And I love you but I don't want keep you from doing whatever it is that you want to do with your life."

"Too late," she admitted, "Because I'm in love with you."

She couldn't imagine a life without him at this point and couldn't stand it if he walked away from her again.

"It's like you said, there's a world of opportunities out there for me. But I want to see where this goes first. And if you need time, then I'll give you time."

She waited for him to say something, but he just stared at her like he was trying to make up his mind. She couldn't wait much longer. No telling how much time passed, she left her phone in her car.

"I have to go. I have to shower and go to dinner."

She searched around the dark room for her panties. She didn't realize Jarrett stuffed them into his pocket until he pulled them out and swung them on his finger.

"Tell them you're running late," he said.

***********************************

Jarrett carried her duffle bag with her change of clothes up to his apartment. He grabbed the keys from his pocket and opened the door for her.

"You can shower and change here. Hurry up, though."

She couldn't tell if he was being controlling or just conscious of the time, but did what he said anyway. A part of her wondered where his roommates were.

"They're not here," he said as if he could read her mind.

Roxanne hurried as quickly as possible to the shower. She snatched down her dress and hurried to the bathroom. She loved Jarrett's shower, the shower head always had the right amount of pressure. If they weren't pressed for time, she would've stayed in there a lot longer.

When she stepped out of the shower, she found her change of clothes already laid out on the bed.

"Will you help me?" she asked. She slid her dress up her body and the straps over her shoulders, but she still needed to zip the back. Jarrett stood behind her and zipped her up.

"Thank you. Will you come with me?"

"You should spend time with your family, Roxy. I'll be here when you get back."

She couldn't argue with that, but her anxiety caused her stomach to churn after hearing his response. A huge part of her wanted him to say yes but then she realized that it wasn't always about what she wanted. She had to be considerate and he still needed time. They both need to process the last hour they spent together.

"Okay. I'll see you in a little while."

"Take your time. I'm not going anywhere," he said with a smile.

"I love you," she said. It may have been too soon for her to say it out loud again but she couldn't help it.

***********************************

"Lil' sis, you are glowing. What's gotten into you? Or should I ask 'who'?" Charlotte whispered at the table.

"You always know what to say, Charlie," Roxanne said with a sigh.

"Please tell me it was—"

"Jarrett. Yes, it was. He came to my graduation."

Charlotte squealed with delight, almost loud enough to alert the whole restaurant. Their mother was in the restroom.

"Shut up! Tell me everything! Did you know he was coming?! Thank God! So, what happened?"

"Remember, I told you I saw him a few weeks ago? He barely said two words to me. But he just showed up. I didn't think he would."

"Really?"

"Well, I hoped he would. But you should have seen him, Charlie, he was so cold to me that day."

"He's probably making you work for it. He's been chasing you all this time. He's probably checking to see if you really want him. But he'll get over it, Rox. You can't push him into it either. Let him get over it on his own time. He loves you, so he's gonna let it go eventually."

"I'm just trying not to screw it up. You know how I get. We just finished—"

"Fucking."

"And it almost turned into a fight."

"You gotta pick your battles, Roxy. Now that you know where y'all stand, it's gonna get easier. For a communications major, you need to learn how to communicate with your man."

"He's not my man. Not yet anyway. We're slowly sailing out of the gray area."

"Well, sail on into clearer waters, girl. If I were you, I'd drop the anchor down in that bitch."

"I am done with this metaphor," Roxanne laughed, "And I hate that you and Mama are leaving tonight."

"Yeah, we gotta head down that long road back to the island. But we'll be seeing you before Christmas, right?"

"Yeah. I'll be headed that way in a couple of days."

"Well just let me know if I have to make room for two. You know Mama loves him too."

"I'm sure she does. I haven't brought it up. We haven't talked about much of anything future related other than me telling him that I didn't take that job."

"Baby steps. If he doesn't go home to his family, he can hang with the crew."

"I'll tell him."

They stood from the table and embraced each other.

"I'm so proud of you, baby sister."

"I love you, Charlie. I don't want y'all to go!"

Angela returned in the nick of time and couldn't help tearing up at the sight of her two girls. "Wow, some things never change. You two used to cry, fight, and pull each other's hair out when I walked away. Now look at you. Still crying at the table, but at least you're not tearing the clothes off each other," she laughed.

***********************************

Jarrett was sitting on his couch in his boxers, watching the game when he heard a knock on his door. Despite the level of comfort on his couch, he got up and opened the door.

Roxanne walked in and undid the bun in her hair.

"Mind if I come in?" she asked.

"Please," he said with a gesture for her enter. He offered her a seat on the couch. He sat down beside her and made himself comfortable. Jarrett kept his eyes on the game.

"How was dinner?" he asked.

"Nice. I said goodbye to them. They're headed back home now."

There was a small, awkward space between them on the couch.

"Sean and Max still out?"

"Yeah, I don't know where they are. Make yourself at home."

Roxanne took off her boots and placed them out of the way. She didn't know what was happening in the game, but she tried to watch it with him. It reminded her of old times and made her smile a little.

"Your panties are in my room," he said out the blue.

"I was wondering when you were going to give those back," she said.

"I thought I'd keep them as a souvenir. To remind you who wears the pants in this relationship."

"Relationship? I like the sound of that," she said with a smile.

"Yeah, I've been thinking on this couch," he said, "I'd be lying if I said that we both didn't have things that we need to work on. And if you want to work on it, we can work on it. I want to figure this out. I want to be with you."

"That's all I want, Jay. I'm willing to do the work, if you are."

"Then you know that I'm not going anywhere."

"I do. I do," she said eagerly.

"Good," he said. He pulled her closer and nestled her underneath his arm like the perfect piece to a missing puzzle. Roxanne felt herself relax more underneath him, like she could finally breathe easy. He rubbed his hand up and down her arm as they watched the game. Her skin was so soft but cold from the temperature of the room. She could care less about her appendages; all the heat she needed was coming from his shirtless body and the way he caressed her arm was making her very hot. The minute she looked up at him, she knew that it was going to lead to something they both needed.

His lips were so soft against hers. She loved the way his tongue felt as it slid into her mouth. Roxanne was already wet. She rolled on top of him, invading his mouth with her tongue.

"Feel how wet you make me, baby?" she said as she grinded her sex on top of him.

"Yes, babe," Jarrett said, "You're making a mess," he said, referring to the wet stains on his pants.

She couldn't help laughing at his remark. It was a little embarrassing but she didn't care. She figured she had a lot of making up to do and immediately got on her knees. He stood his feet and jerked down his pants. His cock bounced free and met her at eyelevel. Roxanne smiled. She began kissing his feet and making her way up his leg, giving special attention to the inside of his thighs. Jarrett closed his eyes and tilted his head; Roxanne's hands roamed freely as she paid homage to his balls with her tongue.